…that the oath one takes upon entering the Armed Forces of the United States is to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” not to “provide political cover for the President of the United States.”
Not all bravery is exhibited on the battlefield, and not all difficult choices involve death.
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Amazing that a man should now be “removed from service” because he did his job so well.
And here I was thinking you were going to link to something about Ehran Watada.
Hey, they drumed Billy Mitchel out for being right, why not this guy? It ain’t right, but it is what it is.
Let’s see what happens. Promotions Boards are strange, strange animals…you wouldn’t believe the criteria, or the competition.
You guys are reading a lot into this that almost certainly isn’t the case. I know it’s because the article leads you that way, but trust me, this isn’t what you think it is.
I think the explanation is probably in the article. As noted in the article, to move up the ranks it is important to have served in many positions. While a terrific attorney, Lt. Cmdr Swift seems to lack that experience. Great fitness evaluations are not enough to ensure promotion; one needs to have his ticket punched at many different stations.
Although the article is fairly neutral, the headline surely isn’t.
Heh. There’s more to the story than the story.
Whiffs of command influence on the promotion selection process? Feh. Automatic (and successful) appeal if so.
Several factors come into play - not the least of which for military lawyers, diversity of experience is prized - and the good Commander has been a litigator (and a good one) for almost his entire career.
Such specialization is *often* a career-killer. Just as if I had done nothing but be the best artillery officer ever, but nothing else, I wouldn’t have gone any farther, either.
No, the far harder job of this next selection board will be to select based on the criteria given them, and *not* let the perception extant (and that perception being publicly pushed with full knowledge of it’s potential effect by the Commander) that this case might have cost him his career over-riding the record and selecting him to avoid the appearance that he *is* being punished.
Perhaps, just, maybe perhaps, in terms of overall Navy Lawyer biz, he’s not been doing what he needed to be doing in order to get promoted. Being a one-trick pony in the officer corps is *not* an asset. Even if you are the best ever at it.
And, as good as he obviously is at that, his future is assured, regardless - in fact - more so if he fails selection. That would, in fact, probably be the best thing that could happen to him.